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Thursday, 30 August 2012

Since my last post I have finished two cards which were looking sad half done on the desk! I also promised myself I would put the card making to one side for a couple of days and do this project.It seems a long time since I have completed anything that wasn't a card - I'm enjoying the whole card thing but also have acknowledged that I have missed the mixed media stuff and making something for no particular reason except for making sake!I bought a Tando Mini Printer Tray at a visit to meet with Maureen at BarjanB recently. (Actually I bought rather a lot of stuff whilst dearly beloved was with Barry and Maureen's OH which left the coast clear for Maureen and I to mooch about in the shop!)

First, I painted the entire thing with acrylic paint. I used K and Co Flora and Fauna paper on the outer and inner cover.I then randomly stamped over it with a Clarity 'crackle' stamp in Versafine Smoky Gray. It probably doesn't show up very well in the pic! and then inked the edges with Victorian Velvet DI.The birdcage stamp is from My Mind's Eye and the tiny pearls for the hanging I glued on by hand - (real fiddly and don't think I'll be doing it again in a hurry!). The wording stamp is by PaperArtsy.The fabric rose edging is from my stash and I made the flower by ripping into circles more of the paper stack, spritzing with water, scrunching up and securing together with a brad. The 'rose' was put onto two fabric leaves and a pice of tattered fabric that I inked with the same DI. The inside front cover was stamped with a mixture of PaperArtsy and Inkylicious bird themed stamps and some scraps of lace glued on. The 'tray' interior was then rubbed all over with the DI and stamped over again with the same crackle' stamp.

From the top - Birdhouse and the Ivy is a Marianne die. Scattered Straw DI used on some string and then glued to make a 'thatched' roof! Popped a tiny mirror onto the back of the heart opening.Silver wire wound round with three small blue beads to form what I hope looks like a nest! attached to a small crocheted circle.Bird image from same paper stack. Word stamp from an Invoke set. Feathers, green fibres and a small speckled egg all from my stash.Three small black dewdrops from stash and wording 'without wings' cut from an odd sheet of paper.Egg stamp and egg wording from an Invoke set stamped onto 'duck egg blue' coloured card

Monday, 27 August 2012

Promised another post and I've had my little mooch around blogland so before I pop off for the night here's another I made earlier.Tell me are you fed up with these papers yet?????Promise I only have one more made from this stack.. but there's lots left so don't be surprised if more appear over the coming weeks as I am absolutely DETERMINED to use it up!Then I can start on the second drawer of 36........................................ LOL
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This was the quickest in the world to make, just 3 different papers, cut to fit the card blank and stitched together --- (and here's the confession - they weren't complete sheets - I did throw some of the smaller ones in the bin but kept these - does it count as 'using up a paper stack' ????) The organza ribbon is a strange colour and I have no recollection of buying it but it blends perfectly with these papers (maybe once the rest of the ribbon is used up I will stop the obsession with using up the stack???). I wrapped some round the papers (covering up some of the stitching ..DOH!) then made it into a quadruple bow. The flower was made using scalloped nesties in varying sizes, spritzed each one with water then crumpled together and assembled with a brad to secure the middle and glued with a pop up dot onto the ribbon..Sentiment stamp was a freebie from a craft magazine stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and I finished it all off with some blingy flourishes.Quite like it so will probably do a few of these and leave off the sentiment so they could be used for any occasion.

First post tonight - got home after getting drenched (AGAIN) - Didn't anyone tell the weather that bowls is a SUMMER game, supposed to be played in SUN??? Cold and wet, green flooded so we all just came home, yet another competition abandoned - don't anyone say anything to me about global warming - I've put the heating on - it's like November!!!It's been a couple of weeks since I managed an entry into the Less Is More challenge and I was pleased to get a card finished this week - the others from the last two weeks are lying here unfinished!This week the theme was 3-2-1. 'All that you need to do is to incorporate 3 of something, 2 of something and 1
of something else!'So here's my countdown ( or was it dusty bin... talk about showing my age...) card!

I initially intended to only use 3 stamps but ended up using four with the sentiment stamp!The flower heads (which are 2 stamps from a Hero Arts set) were stamped in Tea Dye DI and then stamped over again using Antique Linen DI. The wispy grasses off the edge of the circle are also from the same set and the sentiment is a stamp that was just laying about on my oh so tidy desk and fitted into the frame!!I cut out the stamped image with a nestie then cut another circle from a piece of rusty coloured textured cardstock and stuck the stamped image over it.The remains of the card stock was cut to fit inside a scored card blank and just positioned to the left of the stamped circle.I finished the card with 3 bronze sparkly gems, a punched out butterfly and added a teeny bit of glamour dust onto the flower heads for some bling!So my 3-2-1 are 1 butterfly2 shapes - circle and the other bit!3 gems.Sorry about the pic quality - light here is terrible!

Thursday, 23 August 2012

Once again I am back to using up paper stacks - why do we buy so many papers? I have enough papers to stock my own shop but still I buy them... even worse I have lately taken to buying digi paper packs too so now my PC's hard drive is also full of patterns!When I bought this particular pad it was a 'simply must have' - I absolutely loved it - still do which is probably why I only used about 4 pieces from the 48!I have today made 3 cards using it (Ella Blue by GCD) AND I have not kept the smaller snippets - they went straight into the bin as they're other things I never ever use up - now I am feeling very smug 'cos I accomplished using paper I have kept for no other reason other than it was pretty!Will share the other ones at a later time but here's one of today's makes:-

I was the Guest Designer over at Try It On Tuesday for their last challenge and their current one is to follow a sketch so I used the sketch as a base for this card.All the papers are from the same stack and the inside is co-ordinated to match.The background damask style paper is actually flocked so there is a lovely textured feel and it's definitely 'strokeable'!The brown script paper is heavily linen textured and I used some gorgeous lace (a present from Alessandra) - two different widths and colours of organza ribbon for the bow and popped a couple of pearl pins (the brown larger one was a present from Sassy) through both lace and bow.The vintage dress form stamp is by My Mind's Eye and is part of their Lost and Found series. Stamped using Versamark Sepia ink, cut out with a Marianne die and the last of my brown pearls popped onto the middle.I finished with three paper roses - (yes Maureen I finally managed it after you explained I was trying to roll them from the inside not the out!) - which were cut using another Marianne die.I am submitting this into the September challenge over at Unique Crafters in the Card class.

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Have been away for a few days on the South coast - at last I saw sunshine in what has been a dreadful wet and grey Summer here! Weather was hot and sticky and I didn't moan once about the humidity level - 'cos the ice cream van was never far away!Came home last night to yet another torrential downpour and this morning skies have resumed their normal grey colour..... so it's like I've never been gone! But only 29 days to go till the suitcase gets packed for a whole two weeks of sunny lazing about!!

Made two cards before my little break - may share both today but it depends on time factor-first is based on one seen in a craft magazine and designed by the hugely talented and inspiring EMMA. I had the papers (more things bought - looked at - felt - put away....) which are Flower Garden by Tilda - and secured the mask fromBarjan. No excuse now not to use the papers!!

I suppose it may be deemed to be a little late for Jubilee celebrations but we still have the Paralympics to continue being proud and patriotic. This was my first time at using the mask to cut out shapes - my use of a craft knife for straight lines is not the best but the mask made it really easy and I managed not to cut off any finger tops.

Square piece of dark pink card from the paper stack, followed by the union flag design cut from the teal based floral paper, another shade of pink for the layering of the centre cross and then a smaller cross from another different sheet.

Flowers were made using my trusty nestie blossom dies and the rosette also made from the same paper stack. PC generated sentiment and a couple of sparkly gems to the ends of the banner.

The gorgeous sparkly crown is from my stash from ImagineDIY.... hurt me to use it really!!! LOLSame papers used to decorate the inside.

Friday, 17 August 2012

Today's share is a quick CAS card made using left overs from other recent makes which were just about to get scooped up into the bin - then I remembered seeing something whilst on a blog trawl (it may have been on Pinterest - am spending a lot of time on there just lately as inspirational ideas abound!!) and realised that the bits on the desk could be used.

Plain white 7 x 5 card with a layer of aqua coloured paper (left over from previous post) used as a base.I printed the 'congratulations' wording onto a small piece of white linen card and also printed 'Mr' and 'Mrs' onto another leftover piece of the aqua paper.The 'towels' were made by just tidying up the edges of some card previously embossed with the trusty 'swiss dots' folder and two tiny scraps of lace stuck on, then the aqua strips glued over it.I thought they still looked a bit plain so retrieved the tiniest piece of paper from the bin and cut with some scalloped scissors to edge it then glued it onto the bottom.

The 'towel rail' was made using a bamboo barbie skewer and secured to the linen card with a couple of silver brads. The 'towels' were then simply rolled over the top and secured.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Some years ago when I was young and foolish (!!!) I tried a Mint Julep cocktail as I used to really like mint flavoured ice cream.I thought the cocktail would taste the same........... obviously they don't put generous helpings of bourbon in mint flavoured ice cream as I quickly found out when this pale insipid looking concoction arrived with green stuff languishing in the bottom of the glass and half a tree branch sticking out of the top....... Whilst making this card I remembered the disappointment I felt when the glass did not contain anything that remotely resembled the colour (or taste!) of my beloved mint ice cream!The card happily does!

I am sticking to my promise of getting to the bottom of the paper stacks and using it up (it's a very slow process....). The paper I used for the background is from a Craftwork pack which I think was called Ooh La La. I distressed the edge, ran some Versa ink in sea breeze colour around the edge and then stitched it onto a pice of minty/aqua coloured card.

The gorgeous aqua coloured lace was a present from Alessandra (and Bailey - LOL) and i used it across the centre of the card base and then threaded it through a K and Co tag with a scrap of ribbon in the same shade. I added a die cut corner to the bottom end of the tag to give it a lacy edge and glued on a small pearl.

The image is from Stampendous, coloured with promarkers, antique linen dusted round the background of the stamped image, distressed and stitched and raised on 3d pads onto the tag and card base.The Eiffel Tower cut out and the tag on the bottom left were also in the same craftwork card pack.

Feeling especially adventurous I made the flower out of vellum cut with my nesties! A pearl, some more scraps of ribbon, a couple of die cuts and two pearl and crystal pins (a present from Sass )all added.

I finished it with a couple more pearls, a pearl heart and stamped 'beautiful' onto a piece of co ordinating paper. The same colour scheme continued through to the inside.

Hope you're all having some sunshine and maybe an ice cream or two?? Oh and for those of you who are wondering - my disappointment didn't last long - of course I drank it - then had another just to make sure ..... left the tree branch behind though! x

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Have had a bit of a clear out of a couple of drawers and have posted a pic on my other blog -http://bellesbitz.blogspot.co.uk/there's no conditions - you don't have to be a follower or anything but if you want to go in the 'hat' pop over and add a comment to the post... can't do the linky thingy!!The stash would be great for a craft club or similar - there's ribbon, pots and pots of glitter, a couple of sticker sheets, some die cut shapes, lots of flowers and other bits and bobs.Give away is open until Wednesday 15th August - each comment will be numbered from the top and will get Mr Random Generator to do the draw around midday.

Have lost my mojo a bit this past week - been busy and when I've had some spare time have ended up glued to the TV watching the Olympics and becoming all emotional at Team GB.

Hopefully it will return soon - but as it's a few days since my last post here's a quick stepper card to share.LOTV image coloured with promarkers, papers from my stash, a hand made flower with candi centre, some die cut flourishes and a couple of pearl pins.

Tuesday, 7 August 2012

Just a quick post - as always am running round like a headless chicken - have stripped and re made bed, flicked a duster round, had a cursory run through with the hoover and ironed some of the pile..... (did you hear that Teresa???? Ironed... yes I did say IRONED - LOL)

Have an evening function some two hours drive away, (best frock at the ready!) - so it's a stay overnight followed by a visit to BarjanBtomorrow to meet up with Maureen. Hope the weather improves for this afternoon's journey - it's currently bucketing down here and the M6 is not my favourite piece of road at the best of times!

Onto the card - a LOTV image, coloured with promarkers and then cut out with a nestie and placed onto another die cut frame. I added a die cut corner in the same dark pink.The papers I have had in my stash for ages and as I am determined to try and make a dent in the paper pile the ones at the bottom got pulled out and used!

The sentiment is a freebie from TLC. Dark pink grossgrain ribbon, ribbon roses and a few pearls to embellish.... and the same colour schme and papers carried on to the inside.

I really want to eat one of those cupcakes right this minute! So am off to pack my overnight bag before I am tempted to rummage in the fridge looking for something scrummy.... see you in a couple of days! x

Thursday, 2 August 2012

I saw this stamp when buying a present for someone - that's the trouble when you go internet trawling round crafty sites - you go with the intention of buying one thing for someone else and end up buying six things for yourself as well!But I really liked it so as ever it was a 'have to have it' moment.

The image just makes me feel peaceful - I am not a painter but one of my friends who is an accomplished artist says using watercolours are the best bit of therapy she can have........... I opted for a simple layout using only one DP and just distressed the edges a wee bit. The image was coloured with watercolour pastels, cut out with a nestie and lightly distressed.Putting it straight onto a large lacy doily I think kept the 'soft' overall feel.I finally got round to using one of my new dies - called honeyblossom sprig and although I used some pale green card hope you can see enough of it - isn't it pretty?Secured a rather large organza bow with a pearl buckle and the two pins were a pressie from Sassy - clever girl she is! They're lemon pearly tips with silver bits, creamy pearls and lovely shimmery glass beads. Flowers and pearls all from my stash and the inside decorated to match.Challenges -Creative Inspiration - In the gardenCupcake Craft - The Great OutdoorsOrder of the Opus Gluei - Seasons (Summer)MAWTT - SummerDivas by Design - FlowersCreative Craft - SummertimeReally Reasonable Ribbon - Bling with Ribbon

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About Me

I love being in my crafty space! It's a place where I can make cards, paint, alter stuff and lose myself.
I have been the National President of Bowls England in 2017 and have a wonderfully understanding husband who puts up with the mess!
I am a football fanatic and am a mad Liverpool FC supporter.
I've been tracing my family tree for a long time (with one ancestry line traced back to 1605!).
I divide my time up doing all the things I like to do - crafting, genealogy, and lawn bowls! I am lucky enough to have formed several friendships through all my hobbies and love being in blogland!

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COPYRIGHT

All artwork, photos and text on this blog are copyright Viv Tomlinson. I hope I can inspire people the way others have inspired me but please do not attempt to copy or reproduce my work.I consent for my work for any challenges/swaps etc I enter to be copied and posted on the relevant site, but please do not put any of my images elsewhere.